Buddleia plant named ‘Lavender Cascade’

ABSTRACT

The new and distinct plant of Buddleia ‘Lavender Cascade’ is a rounded-mounded, multi-stemmed, winter-hardy butterfly bush with very long, narrow, slightly drooping, flowering thyrse producing a waterfall effect over a long season beginning mid-summer with sweetly-fragrant flowers of light purple petals that are attractively offset by dark green foliage with silvery undersides. The new plant is valuable for landscaping en masse, as an accent or as a potted specimen.

Botanical classification: Buddleia davidii.

Variety denomination: ‘Lavender Cascade’.

BACKGROUND OF THE PLANT

The present invention relates to the new and distinct butterfly bushplant of the Scrophulariaceae family, Buddleia ‘Lavender Cascade’.‘Lavender Cascade’ is the result of an ongoing breeding programconducted by the inventor. The goals for this program have been toproduce improved, garden-worthy plants for the ornamental plant market.The new plant, was assigned the breeder code 14-38-7, is a singleseedling selection from a cross between the unreleased proprietaryhybrid 11-34-01 (not patented) as the female or seed parent collected byHans A. Hansen in the fall of 2014 at a wholesale perennial nursery inZeeland, Mich., USA. The male parent was ‘Wisteria Lane’ U.S. Plant Pat.No. 27,833. The new cultivar was selected as single individual floweringplant within the progeny of the above stated controlled-pollinationduring the summer 2015 in a controlled environment at the same nurseryin Zeeland, Mich.

No plants of Buddleia ‘Lavender Cascade’ have been sold, under this orany other name, in this country or anywhere in the world, prior to thefiling of this application, nor has any disclosure of the new plant beenmade prior to the filing of this application with the exception of thatwhich may have been sold or disclosed within one year of the filing dateof this application and was either derived directly or indirectly fromthe inventor.

Buddleia ‘Lavender Cascade’ was first asexually propagated from a singleselect plant in 2015 by stem cuttings at the same nursery in Zeeland,Mich. The resultant asexually propagated plants have been found to bestable and true to type in successive generations of asexualreproduction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Plants of the new Buddleia have not been observed under all possibleenvironmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat withvariations in environment and cultural practices such as temperature,light intensity, available moisture and fertility without, however, anyvariance in genotype.

In comparison to the new plant the female parent has a deepercerise-pink to raspberry-pink flower color and is upright in habit. Themale plant has a more pendulous thyrse with wider spacing of theflowers.

The nearest comparison plants known to the inventor are Buddleia‘Lavender Cupcake’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,221, ‘Wisteria Lane’ U.S.Plant Pat. No. 27,833, ‘Butterfly Heaven’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,935 andthe two co-pending applications from the same inventor ‘Grand Cascade’(U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 15/932,773) and ‘Pink Cascade’(U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 15/932,743). ‘Lavender Cupcake’is a smaller plant in habit and thyrse size and has different coloredflower petals. ‘Wisteria Lane’ is shorter in habit with smaller thyrseand the branches are more drooping instead of mainly the thyrse droopingand the petals are light purple. ‘Butterfly Heaven’ is shorter andnarrower in habit, with less drooping of the thyrse, and the thyrse isshorter and narrower and the petals are light violet. ‘Grand Cascade’ islarger in habit and has longer and broader thyrse with petals that aredifferent colored. ‘Pink Cascade’ has flower petals that are lightpurple with more pinkish hue. Other similar plants include ‘Tobudviole’U.S. Plant Pat. No. 22,063 which has a more compact habit, shorterthyrse and smaller foliage; and ‘TOBUD0615’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 23,461which is more compact with smaller leaves and shorter thyrse that lackthe drooping of the new plant.

Buddleia ‘Lavender Cascade’ is a unique winter-hardy butterfly bushdifferent from all other Buddleia cultivars known to the inventor basedon the following combined repeatedly observed distinguishing traits:

-   -   1. Winter-hardy butterfly bush shrub, with multiple-stemmed,        well-branched, rounded, waterfall-type arching, mounded habit.    -   2. Large, narrow, many-flowered, elongated and slightly-drooping        thyrse flowering over a prolonged season beginning mid-summer.    -   3. Flowers with light purple petals.    -   4. Lanceolate foliage of dark green with silvery undersides.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The photographs of the new plant demonstrate the overall appearance ofthe plant, including the unique traits. The colors are as accurate asreasonably possible with color reproductions. Ambient light spectrum,source and direction may cause the appearance of minor variation incolor.

FIG. 1 shows the habit of a three-year-old plant in mid-seasonflowering.

FIG. 2 shows a close-up of the inflorescence.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

The following descriptions and color references are based on the 2015edition of The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart except wherecommon dictionary terms are used. The new plant, Buddleia ‘LavenderCascade’, has not been observed under all possible environments. Thephenotype may vary slightly with different environmental conditions,such as temperature, light, fertility, moisture and maturity levels, butwithout any change in the genotype. The following observations and sizedescriptions are of three-year-old plants in the loamy-sand, open-sun,field trials of a nursery in Zeeland, Mich. with supplemental fertilizerand water as needed. The plants are natural habit and were not treatedwith plant growth regulators, nor were they pinched at any time in thegrowth year except to cut back woody stems to about 15 cm tall in earlyspring.

-   Parentage: Unreleased proprietary hybrid 11-34-01 (not patented) as    the female or seed patent; the male or pollen parent is a seedling    of ‘Wisteria Lane’;-   Propagation:    -   -   Method.—Softwood shoot cuttings.        -   Time to initiate roots from tissue culture.—About two weeks.        -   Rooting habit.—Normal, dense and branching, developing thick            at base to about 1.5 cm diameter.        -   Root color.—Creamy white between RHS 159A and lighter than            RHS 159 D depending on soil type.        -   Crop time.—Under normal summer growing conditions 12 to 15            weeks to flower in a four-liter container from cutting.            Plant vigor is very good.-   Plant description:    -   -   Plant shape and habit.—Winter-hardy, herbaceous to            semi-woody, well-branched shrub with about 20 thick upright            and branched main stems producing a rounded mound, to about            175 cm tall and about 260 cm wide.        -   Stem.—Terete and woody in lower portion, with exfoliating            bark; younger upper portion tomentose to tomentulose; strong            and flexible, arching or drooping; average about 155 cm tall            from soil line to just below terminal flowers, and about            15.0 mm diameter at the base; about 24 branches per main            stem before distal flowers in upper 12 nodes, extending at            about 45° angle from main stem.        -   Stem color.—Young distal portion just below flowers nearest            RHS 148D; basal 15 cm between RHS 200C and RHS 165B with            striations between RHS 200A and RHS N199B.        -   Internode.—About 18 nodes per main stem below terminal            thyrse, average internode length about 8.0 cm on unpinched            plant; upper internodes slightly more elongated than lower            internodes.-   Foliage description: Opposite; lanceolate; decussate; serrate with    about four to five teeth per cm, teeth about 1.5 mm long and 2.5 mm    wide; young expanding leaves puberulent abaxial and adaxial,    becoming glabrous adaxial; attenuate to cuneate base and acute apex;    sessile; no foliar fragrance detected;    -   -   Leaf blade size.—Up to about 13.0 cm long and about 37.0 mm            wide, average about 8.0 cm long and about 25.0 mm wide;            becoming smaller in distal portion of stem.        -   Foliage color.—Young expanding leaf adaxial distal one-half            nearest RHS 137A, basal one-half between RHS 191B and RHS            191C, young expanding abaxial nearest RHS 192A with            argenteous base; mature leaves adaxial between RHS 137A and            RHS 139A, mature abaxial between RHS 191B and RHS 191C.        -   Veins.—Reticulate; abaxial costate, puberulent; adaxial            glabrous, slightly impressed.        -   Vein color.—Abaxial midrib and secondary veins blend between            RHS 194B and RHS 148D; adaxial midrib and secondary veins            nearest RHS 146D; expanding abaxial veins nearest RHS 196D            and adaxial between RHS 191B and RHS 191C.        -   Petioles.—Leaves sessile.        -   Inflorescence description.—Glomerate thyrse consisting of            about 1,000 to 2,000 self-cleaning salverform flowers; to            about 26.0 cm long and about 7.0 cm across, average about            22.0 cm long and 6.5 cm across; beginning in mid-July and            continuing until frost in Michigan.        -   Inflorescence attitude.—Slightly drooping.        -   Flower buds.—Elongated clavate with long tubular base, apex            rounded; one day prior to opening about 14.0 mm long, about            2.5 mm diameter in club, tube about 1.0 mm diameter and            about 8.0 mm long.        -   Flower bud color.—Between RHS 83D and RHS 83C in club            portion, tube nearest RHS N77C.        -   Sepals.—Typically four, proximal two-thirds connate,            adpressed to corolla tube; acute apex; glabrous adaxial and            pubescent abaxial; margin entire; fused in about the basal            2.0 mm and split in about the terminal 1.5 mm, individually            less than about 1.0 mm wide at point of fusion; forming a            corolla about 3.5 mm long and about 2.0 mm across.        -   Sepal color.—Adaxial and abaxial nearest RHS 138A along            center longitudinal axis with blush of nearest RHS N186C            both abaxial and adaxial.        -   Flowers.—Salverform; actinomorphic; to about 17.0 mm long            and 7.5 mm wide at face; with straight terete tube about 9.0            mm long and 1.0 mm diameter, and a abruptly applanate face            about 7.0 mm across; attitude outward from thyrse center.        -   Flowers fragrance.—Pleasantly and distinctly sweet.        -   Petals.—Typically four; glabrous abaxial and on adaxial            blades and tube, puberulent center abaxial tube; blade            rounded with crenate margin; apex rounded; blade to about            3.0 mm across and about 3.0 mm long from fused face.        -   Petal color.—Upon opening and when fully open adaxial tube            base between RHS 145D and RHS 157D, distal one half tube            center between RHS 166C and RHS 164A, adaxial face blade            nearest RHS N82C; upon opening and when fully open abaxial            tube base nearest RHS 145D, distally tube nearest RHS N77B            and abaxial petal blades nearest RHS N82C.        -   Gynoecium.—Pistil: one; about 5.0 mm long. Style: short,            round, glabrous; about 1.5 mm long and less than 0.2 mm            diameter; color nearest RHS 145D. Stigma: narrow            ellipsoidal, minutely puberulent; about 0.2 mm in diameter            and about 1.5 mm long; color nearest RHS 145A. Ovary:            superior; oblong globose; about 1.0 mm across at base and            2.0 mm tall; distally tapering to style; color nearest RHS            143C.        -   Androecium.—Typically four. Filaments: none or less than 0.2            mm long and less than 0.1 mm diameter; when present color            nearest RHS NN155D. Anthers: typically four; oblong;            introrse; adnate to about mid-point of corolla tube; about            1.0 mm long and 0.5 mm wide; color nearest RHS 158A. Pollen:            globose, less than 0.1 mm long; color nearest RHS 155B.        -   Pedicel.—Short, puberulent; about 2.0 mm long and about 0.3            mm diameter; color nearest RHS 138A.        -   Peduncle.—Quadrangular; tomentulose to tomentose, flexible            and strong; to about 37.0 cm long, and about 3.0 mm across            at base below flowers.        -   Peduncle color.—Between RHS N187A and RHS N187B.        -   Fruit.—Moderate to heavy fruit set; oblong with acute apex;            attenuate base; glabrous, bi-valved, septicidal capsule;            about 11.0 mm long and about 1.8 mm diameter toward apex and            1.0 mm toward base.        -   Fruit color.—As maturing nearest RHS 187A; when mature and            dehiscing nearest RHS 164B.        -   Seed.—Elongated linear with sharply acute ends; about 1.5 mm            long and less than 0.2 mm across in center.        -   Seed color.—Nearest RHS 200A.-   Disease resistance: Resistance has been noted to deer browsing.    Other pest and disease resistance beyond that common to butterfly    bush cultivars has not been observed. The plant grows best with    plenty of moisture and adequate drainage, but is able to tolerate    some drought when mature.-   Hardiness at least from USDA zone 6 through 10.

It is claimed:
 1. A new cultivar of winter-hardy butterfly bush plantnamed Buddleia ‘Lavender Cascade’ as herein illustrated and described.